Inglorious Bstrds
by BroIt'sTaylor
Summary: This is literally just a fanfic of RP characters that my friends and I have. You can read it if you want but it is VERY BAD and there's NO REASON TO.


Inglorious Bastards

Prologue

Current Day – 2017

Four candles. Flames flickering erratically in the brisk night air, fighting the wind for longevity of their spark. How poetic that felt. Four bright flames fighting for their right to exist against forces that would rather they be snuffed out. She ought to be crying, she thought, ought to be sobbing at the feet of the concrete angels in front of her but she'd long ago run out of tears, and the chiselled names lit by candlelight had stopped responding long before they were in this place. For thirty-eight years she'd done the same thing. Walked to this place in the early hours of the morning, when the grass was wet with dew and the sun didn't know the day had started without it yet. Laid out four candles, lit them, maybe she'd cry and maybe she wouldn't. She'd speak to them softly, tell them about the world, and tell them she was sorry. Sorry that they were the ones beneath her feet and not the other way around. Sorry because she didn't deserve to be here anymore than they deserved to be there. She'd stay so long that when she was done the candles were burnt down and the sun was high in the sky. Twenty years ago she would have stood and walked away with no troubles but now, it was a mission to stand after being so still for so long. Her joints were worn down and her strength failing. The lines that ran deep along her skin told the story of her life if one only looked long enough but nobody ever did.

As always, before she left, she contemplated leaving one last candle. One last candle for the grave that wasn't there. The grave that she carried in her mind more than it would be carried in the world. But as always she turned away with a shake of her head. _He is still alive,_ she'd remind herself. Alive being the more generous word for what her last surviving friend was. Perhaps in body the sentiment was true but nothing could be further from the truth for his mind, his soul and his heart all lived within the grave in her mind. He was just as gone as the friends she leaves behind in the cemetery – sometimes, she thinks, even more.

The walk home was always slower than the walk there. She thinks it's because the ghosts of her friends weigh heavier on her after her visit. It's probably just because she's old. When her feet hit the threshold of her house she can feel it, feel him. He was always different on this day, like he was aware of what it meant, he didn't, of course, he wasn't aware of anything. "I lit the candles for us. Had to use a bit of magic this time to keep the wind from blowin' them out." Her voice echoed in the near emptiness of the small space she resided in. It was croakier than she remembered it being, weathered by the years. Her vocal chords had had more use in her life than they could handle. Screaming, sobbing, laughter. There'd been none of that for a long time. Not for her. Not in this house. Walking into the bed room she knew he'd be, he never moved, he couldn't, she situated herself on the bed behind him. Her hands shook as she placed them into her lap but they always shook, scars marked the delicate skin of the tops of them. Her eyes met the back of his head as the man continued to stare out the window, as always, the greying hair a stark contrast to how it was when they were young. They'd tried to take him to St. Mungos more times than she could count, said he'd be better looked after there, better treated. They were liars, all of them. They didn't know him like she did. He'd never have wanted to live out his life in a hospital, and she wouldn't let him. It was her fault after all. Slowly she stood, less from the resistance her body gave her and more from the fear she felt every time she went to gaze upon his blank face. "I'm so sorry." She'd said the words to him more times than she could count. At the beginning she'd spent days in this room, on the bed next to him sobbing into the pillows and begging for the forgiveness he couldn't give her even if he'd wanted to. "It should have been me. It should have been me." Yet another common utterance within these walls. If he'd been able to he'd have told her to shut up decades ago but that thought never stopped the words from slipping passed her lips. It was worse on this day. Everything was worse on this day. The guilt. The pain. The grief. The life she'd never fully lived. The man next to her had been the one tortured to vacant madness by unforgiving men using even more unforgivable curses, the rest of their friends had been lost in the fight against those same men. It was only her who endured now. Only her that had lived a half- life, a cursed life. Even after the young Potter boy had finished the second war, even after she had been offered an award for her service after they had somehow discovered their achievements during the first one – which she'd refused with a slamming door in the young man's face. Some days she wished she'd died alongside her friends, some days she was thankful she hadn't. But most days, well, most days she thought the Cruciatus curse would have been much quicker.

Chapter 1

1977

Taylor Tonks would like to think that she was a well-dressed individual. A nice pair of jeans and a shirt went a long way and she could always count on them for being a timeless classic. It wasn't that she was opposed to flowing dresses or pleated skirts, it was just that she'd never _owned_ any. Unfortunately, that fact hadn't deterred the very rich, and very picky Valentine Cornelia Malfoy – her best friend, well, that fact was to be decided in lieu of whether or not the platinum blonde pain in her butt would make her try on any more dresses. "Just reiterating I was, in fact, joking when I suggested this, Malfoy." Came the irritated words of Taylor through clenched teeth as her usually nimble fingers fumbled with the halter neck of the deep crimson dress that had been thrown in her direction mere moments earlier. "Don't make suggestions if you aren't going to follow through." Came the contrastingly distracted and borderline bored reply of Vally as clothing hangers clinked against each other in the aftermath of her ever searching fingers upon the dress rack. "Now, are you dressed or not? You know what I don't care I'm coming in." The warning was given barely moments before the other girl had barged into Taylor's dressing room and immediately emitted an incredibly over dramatic gasp. "I don't know what I did –"  
"Oh Taylor it's gorge-"  
"but you have become entirely too-"  
"ous! You have to buy this-"  
"pushy. You can't just barge into my-"  
"one and we are not leaving until you do."  
"dressing room."  
The pause that rendered the fitting room silent after that confusing outburst had the two girls bursting into a fit of giggles for honestly no apparent reason at all. After the laughter had subsided Vally positioned her dainty hands onto her best friend's shoulders and slowly forced her to turn until the girl was facing the full body mirror. The sight Taylor beheld almost had her letting out a gasp herself – it was beautiful. Raising her hand she tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear as she gazed at the reflection in the mirror. The dress cinched tightly at her bodice, layers of soft satin intricately designed with small swirling patterns ran across the material of her chest, which dipped deep into her cleavage in, well, in the classiest way she had ever seen. From her waist the material flowed like water, slowly deepening the colour in a gradient. The dress had to be infused with magic, she decided, because as soon as the dress caught a certain light it would sparkle like a million diamonds caught on fire. "I do like it." Came the slightly breathless reply of the red head at last, her eyes never once leaving the dress in the mirror. It took a few moments for the spell, whether it was an actual spell or not was to be seen, to wear off and for Taylor to slowly turn to the girl next to her. "I like it a lot. But just because I like the dress, does not make what we are about to do any less stupid."  
"If you don't want to accompany me to the big bad pureblood ball, all you have to do is say so, Tonks." Was the slightly exasperated and overtly mocking reply of Vally, accompanied with an eye roll – the ridiculous ice blue of her eyes making it seem so much more offensive for some reason. The flame of pride that always bubbled just below the surface of the Gryffindor's skin flared as her facial features rearranged to make a scowl. "If you're trying to imply I'm scared you can shove it, Malfoy. I'm just _concerned_ that _maybe_ bringing a bloody _mudblood_ to your very intense, very classist family ball might not be the _best_ idea you've ever had."  
"It was your idea"  
"Merlin's pants, Val. You know it's stupid if I'm the one being the voice of reason here." The blonde girl simply blinked that slow, infuriating blink that said 'I am equal parts correct and bored with this conversation' before turning away and walking from the dressing room. "Then stop talking," there was a slight pause, "See, no more voice of reason." And then she was gone.

Chapter 2

If Taylor thought the dress shopping had been nerve racking, it was nothing compared to the delirious haze of fear she had been in since she had stepped into Malfoy Manor. She looked every bit the part, red dress secured expertly on her hourglass frame, red hair - shinier than she had ever seen it- cascaded in soft waves over her shoulders and stopped at her collar bone, make up as natural as she could convince Vally to do it. She looked every bit the pureblood she wasn't and not one bit the 16 year old that she was. The girl next to her shone brightly in an emerald green coloured gown that accentuated every curve all the way to her ankles, platinum hair piled onto her head in the most intricate design of braids she'd ever seen done without the help of magic and her makeup was, as always, flawless. Valentine Malfoy was a classic beauty. The type of girl you'd imagine on the silver screen with Marilyn Monroe and Aubrey Hepburn. A timeless type of pretty that was never in your face but was always present no matter what she was doing. There was nothing about the girl that wasn't perfect or poised, a side effect of her upbringing. The once snobby, prideful Slytherin Ice Queen that paraded her status around Hogwarts was a stark contrast to the young woman she had grown to be since Taylor had known her. Yet, standing in this house with her Taylor realised that her best friend was a much better actress than she gave her credit for as she watched Vally dismiss a waiter with a simple flick of her hand just like all those years ago. She was sure that she was the only one that saw the flicker of sadness and apology reflected in the depths of her best friend's eyes at the action, after all she did have a role to keep. A role that was going to be shattered into a million pieces once the guests got wind of who exactly Valentine Malfoy had arrived with.

"I think you complain more about your family than actual time you spend _with_ your family, Val." The muffled voice of Taylor as she buried her face into her pillow could barely be heard over the excitable tones of the blonde girl currently pacing the length of her dorm room. "Ohhhhhh Tonks, don't you start with me. They've done it this time, they've really gone and done it. How dare they tell me I can't see Nic! Who do they think they are?"  
"Your parents, mostly."  
"And how did they even _know_?" Taylor waited a few moments before the growl of realisation she knew was coming filled the air and Val's anger was amplified tenfold. "Lucius the little snitching, blabbermouth, stupid, suck up git! I knew he heard me ask Nic to come to the ball, I knew it! But nooooo he denied he was even in the corridor _and_ Regulus backed him up, oh they're going to get it." Taylor ignored the faint jumping of her heart upon hearing the Black boy's name. She'd never spoken to him perse, or well even interacted with him outside of an awkward potions lesson, but Merlin he was _cute_ – and also Vally's cousin, she quietly reminded herself. As her mind took her away into dark locks of messy black hair and deeper depths of ocean blue eyes she barely heard the sharp turn Vally had taken into rant central. When she finally snapped back to reality the blonde girl was wildly gesturing her anger as she barely spluttered incomprehensible words of disdain for her family from her lips. It was almost comical, the difference between the girl that stood in front of her and the girl she had bit Meryl Mumps' finger to save. Almost comical. Because it was bordering on crazy. "…and to think it's just because Nic is a halfblood. A halfblood, Taylor. Both of his parents are literally magic but because his grandparents intermarried that makes him not good enough?!"  
"Yeah, imagine if you showed up with me. That'd cause a real riot. No magic for five generations before I came along. The muddiest of bloods to ever have blood." The sarcastic reply came to her lips without a second thought. The preposterousness of the idea speaking volumes by itself, or so she had thought. The sudden silence of the room had been going on for far too long and it caused the red head girl to raise her head from her pillow in search for the blonde that she thought had surely left the room. Instead, she found the grave face that was unmistakably a deep in thought Valentine. Taylor's eyes widened as she realised what was happening but before she could articulate her disbelief the other girl had already donned the impenetrable resolve of a Malfoy. "Actually, that's not a bad idea."

So it was that these were the events that now led her to standing in the corner of the grand ball room of Malfoy Manor, a smirking Valentine by her side as she proudly led the taller girl around the ball room to meet and greet the guests in attendance as befitting a proper Malfoy child. It was fine for a while, pleasant conversation bred pleasant conversation and Vally had so far stayed silent about the secret that clung tightly to her arm. Apparently, that was not to be so for long. It was a conversation with the LeStranges that she slipped it in, so effortlessly and casually that Taylor almost missed it herself. The shocked drop of the jaws of the black clad man and woman in front of them were, however, not missed as Vally, immediately after she dropped the bomb, pleasantly excused them both from the conversation. It didn't take long after that for the information to spread, Vally had obviously intentionally chosen the most gossipy of the attendees. Something that Taylor knew was definitely not just mere coincidence. Vally was taken away by her parents not long after that, no doubt to be reprimanded quietly. They hadn't kicked Taylor out, would have caused too much of a scene she imagined, only stopping to give her a disgusted look before dragging off their daughter. Awkwardly she stood there trying to ignore the staring eyes of the guests that sometimes strayed passed her figure before moving on, but not without a loudly whispered remark of her heritage. Taylor found she didn't really mind what they said, nor did she mind the scathing looks. She knew who she was, knew that her bloodline didn't define the type of witch nor the type of person she was. These people were stupid and snobby and it wasn't her fault they were so uptight they married their cousins just for 'purity'. That was rather impure to her anyway so who was really the filth here.

As one of the old women made eye contact with her Taylor decided to stare back, never letting her gaze falter as she stared down the clearly offended wrinkly woman until she looked away. A smirk overcame her lips, a small victory but a victory nonetheless. "You're looking awfully nonchalant for someone who is about to get lynched by a group of 90 year old women." The voice came from behind her and she started slightly, she'd thought her back had been to a wall, apparently not. Turning her head she tried to clamp down on the red that wanted to spread across her cheeks as she saw who it was. Regulus Black, of course. "They're only 90? I guess pure blood doesn't mean you age well, a pity." Her reply sounded every bit as not shaky and casual as she hoped it would. Maybe she was a better actress than she gave herself credit for, too. The deep chuckle that came from the boy beside her had her hard pressed to contain the surprise that flickered across her features. "He laughs, now that is surprising." The laugh stopped as soon as she mentioned it and instead was replaced by an exasperated sigh. "Shut up, and dance with me, Tonks." Came his equally disturbing and surprising reply. Disturbing because how in the world did he know her name, she was fairly sure he ignored everything and everyone that existed in the world. Surprising, because she had basically been branded with a _Do not interact_ neon sign and he was _Regulus Black_. Her mind was a hurricane of thoughts as he whirled her far too gracefully onto the dance floor and the dancers parted like the red sea, their scowls indication of the reason they had decided collectively to move.

His hands went to the proper places on her body and hers joined his as they began to slowly spin around the dance floor – silently she thanked the dancing lessons McGonnagal made them take in fourth year. They were silent for what seemed to stretch on forever, to her anyway. How many nights had she dreamed of being in the position she was? As they slowly completed a circle around the dance floor she found her nerves had steadily removed themselves from her system enough that she could speak because apparently he was not going to. "You know, it's kind of a bad look for you to be dancing with me right now." Her eyes found his face and the smirk he wore had her almost gasping at the resemblance he bore to his older brother. Sirius was a year above them and someone who was quite easy to get along with, something the two brothers did not share. Taylor and Sirius had both gotten into trouble together more than a few times and that was enough to spark the fire of friendship that had been steadily cultivated by harmlessly thrown jinxes and comments in the Gryffindor common room. The two Gryffindors shared a familiar spark, one the man that stood in front of her did not have but she could have sworn as he shrugged his shoulders in reply and simply moved his eyes to glance to his left, she could have sworn she saw the same fire reflected in his eyes. Following his eye line she saw the gobsmacked look of Walburga Black and the juxtaposing bored expression of her husband as they stood to the side, eyes firmly burning holes into the pair as they glided along the floor hand in hand. A small chuckle escaped her lips as she understood the odd request for a dance. He wanted to make mummy mad. So cliché. "Ah." Was the only indication she gave that she had cottoned on to his motives. The pair were once again silent as he guided her into the next song. Slowly she allowed herself to sink into the comfortable silence before it was broken by his voice. "You know, Valentine is going to be grounded for at least a month because of you."  
"If she's grounded it's her own fault. This wasn't my stupid plan…technically"  
"You have a habit of inciting a certain type of rebelliousness in those around you, did you know that?" Her eyes widened as she looked up at him. Was he seriously blaming her for Val's stubbornness?  
"I can't imagine I know what you're trying to say, Black."  
His hands lifted from her back and hand respectively in a half-hearted sign of surrender before placing them firmly back into their places. "I only mean to say that Valentine never would have pulled this stunt before she met you. And Sirius would have taken longer to leave if you hadn't have convinced him that day in detention. I think you're a bad influence, Taylor Tonks."  
"And yet, you're the one dancing with me."  
"My point exactly." His answer was whispered almost conspiratorially as that stupid smirk was once again plastered firmly over his lips. The smirk promptly fell as the shrill, unmistakable voice of Walburga Black was heard over the music. "Regulus, we're leaving. Come." Their movements stopped and he looked from his mother to Taylor. "The jig is up." And for a moment she could almost allow herself to think that he sounded upset about leaving. Before he could remove himself entirely from her, she placed a hand on his cheek. "In case you need some incentive for rebelling in the future." And before she could convince herself otherwise she planted her lips firmly over his. It was not a long kiss and it was certainly not a romantic one but it was _nice_. She liked the way her lips felt on his, liked the way they fit – rough on soft. Pulling away she didn't want to think about the utter shock on his face as she gave him a small wink and walked away. Leaving him to face his parents on his own. He wanted to make his mother mad, well, she was happy to oblige. Vally came to find her after that, the deep red smirk she wore undiminished by the firm reprimanding Taylor was absolutely sure she had just received. Vally wrapped their arms together and in a voice far too chirpy for the content it was delivering informed her that the two were to leave the premises. And so they did.

Chapter 3

"You know the more you ignore him the harder he's going to try, right?" The studious silence that had surrounded Taylor and Josh was broken by her words. Chewing the pencil in his mouth slightly –they both refused to use quills, they were muggleborns and honestly they knew life before this antiquated aesthetic bullshit Hogwarts has going on- Josh finished the page he was on before looking up at his friend. "Nathanial Lupin is insufferable." Taylor inclined her head slightly, signalling her agreement with her friend but the smirk that slid over her lips was inevitable and the eye roll that Josh gave her implied he knew exactly what she was going to say next – in fact, he even went so far as mouthing the words along with her as she spoke. "Yeah but, he is very very sexy." The two broke out into a fit of laughter which was soon cut off by a sharp 'shush' from the librarian. "Speaking of very very sexy though, rumour has it you snogged a certain Pureblood Prince of Poshness." Taylor's groan of reply was far too loud and dramatic and ultimately sent the pair packing from the library at the behest of the librarian – kicked out of the library, again. It had been two weeks since the events at the ball and Taylor had neither seen nor heard from Regulus Black apart from small glances across hallways and around corners. She didn't expect anything, honestly, but the news had spread around the school like wildfire and not even one single death threat from Bellatrix Black had yet to reach her.

Since Taylor refused to answer the drummer boy's question, she chose instead to change the subject. "What are you reading anyway?" she gestured to the book the boy had been studying so intently in the library. "That's not what we were assigned." Josh's shoulders shrugged as he handed over the book, _The Magical and Mysterious Pasts and Possessions of the Founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._ "It's interesting." Was his only explanation as she flicked to the page he had bookmarked.  
"Salazar Slytherin's Locket. How cute, you're a huge nerd." Pushing the book back into his hands she laughed as he attempted to hit her with it.  
"Well, isn't this nice. Devine, I never thought you'd cheat on me, and with Tonks? Come on, that's just offensive. I'm honestly astonished and hurt."  
"We're not dating, Nate."  
"Yet. We're not dating yet."  
The one and only force of nature that was Nathanial Lupin had come up behind the two as he, no doubt, was running away from another one night stand. How he got away with it in an enclosed space like the castle was a mystery to her but he was one of her best friends and his exploits were more often than not amusing. The interaction between Josh and Nate was nothing new. Nathanial never gave up and Josh never gave in and yet, the slight pink colouring that now tinged the smaller boy's cheeks almost made her laugh. Joshua Devine was wearing down, and if she knew him like she thought she did, it wouldn't be long until Nate got his way – as always. The two boys took up their usual repartee as the trio walked through the halls, heading nowhere in particular and yet in Hogwarts you always seemed to end up in precisely the place you need. Her laughter joined her friend's as Josh made a particularly clever remark that had Nate stumbling over his words – a feat not easily achieved. The two worked well, she observed, and despite the jokes she knew Nate cared more for the drummer boy than he had cared about anything in his life, the only reason he continued to pursue him. Nate was, in her opinion, one of the best looking men to ever grace the face of the plant. Tall and muscular with a jaw chiselled by the gods themselves, copper hair that never quite looked neat no matter how hard he tried but overall added to the sex god status he had so easily achieved for himself. Josh was no sloucher either when it came to looks, though less pronounced than the shining star that was Nathanial Lupin, Josh still held his own. With dark windswept hair that gave off a certain sense of boyish charm and his ever changing eyes (which stood to a firm pattern of green/grey/blue) which legitimately had at least two confirmed cases of making girls faint, he should have changed his name to Joshua DeFiinnneeee. All in all it amounted to a serious case of their future children being stupidly gorgeous.

"…he won't stop talking about it. I mean isn't it supposed to be a secret? For the ever modest and sensible Remus Lupin he's not being very modest or sensible, honestly and mum and dad think I'm the loose cannon in this family." Taylor tuned back into the conversation with a cloud of confusion.  
"What are you complaining about this time?" Nate sent her a look that very clearly said 'As if you haven't been listening to every single word I say ever, why was your full attention not on me? Ludicrous'. "Remus and his stupid friends made some secret order about a bird. Absolutely stupid if you ask me."  
"You're just jealous they're doing something about the pureblood fanatics that plague this school and _you know who_ and _you_ didn't think of it first." Nate's indignation was clear as he held a hand to his chest and scoffed. "And besides," she continued "I think what they're doing is admirable. It's getting worse, have you been reading the papers? Someone has to do something. Muggles and Wizards alike are being slaughtered. The ministry hasn't even given their official word on the matter but we all know what's happening. History is full of bad men standing above others and declaring them beneath him, and history is full of the people that stood up against them and won. Remus and his friends are going to be heroes one day." Nate rolled his eyes at her entirely too self-righteous speech.  
"Those people only stood up for their place in history. To get their names on schools and parks and shit." Taylor stopped walking to fix him with her best glare.  
"They did it because it was the right thing to do, Nate, because it's _always_ the right thing to do. It's like Dumbledore says 'Darkness never lasts for long, not when you've got people fighting for the light'." There was a tense silence between the two as her opinions stood against his before he sighed deeply and his signature smirk was back on his lips, the tension dismissed with a wave of his hand.  
"Whatever you say Taylor, but I still think we'd be much better looking heroes." The taller boy slung his hand over Josh's shoulder – and for once Josh didn't move to remove it – "and we'd have a _much_ better name." Josh laughed as he nodded along with Nate, "Yeah, if the bird guys get to go down in history what does that mean for us? Where's our glory?"  
"The Inglorious Bastards" declared Nate as the trio once again began walking. "Getting shit done horribly but at least it's getting done."

Chapter 4

The night was a clear one, a site rare to behold in times that had come to pass. No one wanted to admit it but the magical world was slowly falling apart. Days seemed less sunny, clouds covered the night sky on any typical day and it was all you could do to stop yourself from looking up lest your eyes meet the omen of death that no one wanted to acknowledge. But not tonight. Tonight, her astronomy paper was finally going to get done immersed in the silence that the top of the astronomy tower provided. Silence that was, more or less, confusing as she would have thought more of her classmates would take the opportunity of a clear sky to study the constellations they were meant to. Well, maybe she was a little bitter too. Val had finished hers weeks ago, at the prompting of Dom, a feat that took nearly three days due to the fact that neither could keep their hands off each other for more than a few sentences. Josh, ever prepared, had also finished his and in a strange turn of events had even given in to Nate's incessant begging for help – _Traitor_ , she thought. What happened to him and her against the world? Or well, against the system and concept of time. It was tradition, they'd leave their assignments to the night before and write a panic fuelled masterpiece in the small hours before it was due but no, here she was alone. At least she was consistent. "Inglorious Bastards. I like the implication that we'd be bastards but I rather like glory - People chant your name it's all very riveting." The sarcastic drawl preceded the dark haired boy from out of the shadows and Taylor jumped so hard she risked dropping her parchment clean off the roof. "Do you have any sense of announcing yourself or do you get off on the dramatic emergence from dark places?" Her stare glared holes through the self-satisfied grin that Reg wore as he rather presumptuously took a seat at her side like they were old friends. The uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach that she had come to know as the 'Regulus Radar' was riding a roller coaster at his proximity. In fact, she was so focused on his closeness that she almost glossed over what he had said. Inglorious Bastards? What was he- a shocked gasp escaped her as she turned to him with fear filled eyes. "You were eaves dropping."  
"I wasn't dropping anything, Lupin has no volume control." his eyes swept over her, taking in her tensed body language and expression and he, unbelievably, rolled them, "Would you please look less pants-wettingly scared right now oh ye of great, brave Gryffindor, you're lucky it was me that overheard and not some pureblood fanatic."  
"You are a pureblood fanatic."  
"You wound me."  
The pair looked at each other for a few moments, the tension thick in the cool night air as she tried to determine whether he was a threat and he tried to determine whether his snark was winning her over. It did, and it had, her body relaxed but her eyes still narrowed in faux suspicion. "You said we, by the way." His left eyebrow raised in confusion as he tried to understand what she meant.  
"I said we?"  
"You said, 'I like the implication that _we'd_ be bastards." His head nodded along with her words like he was affirming that, yes, that is what he had said and why was she telling him that that is what he had said, he was the one that had said it.  
"Well, when we get the spook club up and running, you know, my cousin, her ridiculously good at everything yet good for nothing boyfriend, the drummer boy and _his_ boyfriend. The whole gang. I obviously have to be a part of it. I have leverage, I'll tell the purebloods if you veto me." Her mouth had gone slack at the words 'spook club' and honestly had just stayed that way for majority of his comment. It took more than a few moments of slack jawed staring and a look from the younger Black brother that clearly said 'shut your mouth dear, you'll catch flies', for her to fully comprehend and formulate a response to what he was saying. "Are you – are you _blackmailing_ your way into a club that _doesn't exist,_ right now?"  
"Well, yes thought that would have been obvious. I mean I definitely see why you weren't chosen for Ravenclaw there." Her eyes rolled so hard they almost stuck in the back of her sockets honestly, who knew Regulus Arcturus Black was a) seemingly a blood traitor and b) a sassy, snarky pain in the ass.  
"But, it doesn't exist, Black." His sigh of blatant frustration would have almost been offensive if it hadn't been accompanied with a mischievous grin that set her butterflies on rollercoasters into Mach 2 overdrive.  
"Well, obviously, we're going to have to send out the e-vites, aren't we Tonks? Can't start a secret evil foiling club if we don't have members to foil the evil, can we?" Her eyes blinked blankly up at him.  
"No, no I guess not."

Chapter 5

It had been oddly easy, almost too easy, to get the aforementioned people to agree to start the club that had been proposed on the roof of the astronomy tower that night. After she'd answered him, he'd given her a smile and a nod and left the way he had come. She didn't get to ask him how he'd known where she'd been, or if he remembered the night of the ball – he hadn't let on that he had – and all the encounter had done was give her the very unnecessary headache of a snowballing idea. He had been correct after all, why shouldn't they? Val had provided a few tense moments of silence after Taylor had finished pitching the idea to her before cracking the infamous Malfoy smirk and declaring she was in – anything to give her family hell for the way they treated her boyfriend and her best friend. Once Val was in, Dom was in, his only qualm being whether it would interfere with his quidditch training. Once he had been assured that it would not he had thrown an arm around the platinum blonde next to him and proudly declared his cooperation too. She'd barely finished her speech before Nate had waved her nonsense aside and declared that he too would join – he'd half done it to make her stop interfering with the fifth year he was trying to pick up but also because he thought it was his idea after all, he had chosen the name, they were basically his disciples. It was Josh, not surprisingly, that had been the hardest to convince. It took him almost two days to make up his mind on the matter and even then it was a feeble 'okay' and only after Nate had intervened and told him that he might as well use that brain of his for something worthwhile.

It took three meetings for them to get anywhere. The first attempts had mostly been taken up by Nate insisting he was the captain of this ship and the rest of the group arguing against him. The fourth meeting, held in a pub dingier than the Three Broomsticks, on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, occurred at the end of the school year and was the first meeting that Regulus decided to show up at. His appearance in the pub quickly reminded her that she hadn't actually told the group he was involved, that it was basically his idea. Nate was the first to speak up, as always. "What's this prat doing here?"  
"Cousin, what-"came the shocked mumble of Vally. The table was suddenly a rumble of shocked assertions and accusations as Reg set himself down on a chair at the end of the table and looked at them all lazily, one by one. He waited for everyone to settle themselves down, which took longer than necessary she thought. "Sorry I forgot to tell you guys, he's on our side." Their eyes met, "He actually kind of…created our side." He nodded at her in thanks, staying unusually quiet. Or well, she guessed this was how she used to view him. Reserved, quiet, broody in a way that was almost endearing. Taylor had become accustomed to his quick wit and constant snarky comments but it occurred to her that he didn't know anyone here. Not really, anyway, aside from Vally, and he'd kept up the appearance of a proper pureblood in her presence for most of their lives anyway. Once she realised he wasn't going to say anything apparently, she turned back to her friends who were all staring at the intruding Black with something akin to suspicion and dislike. Especially Nate, tension thick in the air around him as Reg's gaze lingered too long on the brown haired boy by Nate's side. Nate slid himself closer to Josh, his own gaze locked onto Reg's in some type of Neanderthal show of dominance they were both exhibiting with wildly conflicting reasons – Nate for the show of possession and Regulus for the show of power. Taylor didn't know how long she observed the exchange before she loudly cleared her throat, effectively killing the staring contest of whom haveth the biggest dicketh. "I think it would be conducive to the cause if instead of glaring and prejudices we could perhaps just embrace the people on this team. There's enough hate going on out there, I will not tolerate that same attitude in here." She looked pointedly at Nate before her careful and measured gaze met each and every person around the table. Dom's arm tightened around Vally's shoulders as he sat himself up straighter as her eyes met his, he looked away slightly before returning the look she gave him with a small nod. "She's right. Black's an asset, whether we like it or not."  
"And we don't like it." Nate interjected with a half smirk directed at Regulus.  
"Why do you even not like him?" Josh piped up from beside the copper haired boy, the question taking them all by surprise. "Just seems a little bias is all." He shrugged, the weight of the attention on him slightly bothersome. Nate spluttered out half finished excuses for a few minutes before finally settling on the grand accusation of "He's consorting with the enemy!" Five scoffs were simultaneously heard around the table as Nate took turn glaring at everyone like they were traitors to his cause. "I think you'll find my consorting with the enemy will only prove to be helpful, Nathanial." Reg spoke up for the first time sine he had arrived, the timber of his voice catching even her off guard. "Besides, I have our first assignment."  
It would be a year before any of them would look back on that dreary day, in a drearier bar, and recall the words of the second blood traitor of the House of Black. And it would be a year before any of them realised that the more fitting word would have been _last._

Chapter 6

Josh's POV

Josh stared vacantly at the young man lounging across his bed like he owned the place, well, he supposed Nathanial Lupin did own every room he walked into on mere principle. The taller boy hung slightly off of his bed frame, the bed itself too small to accommodate his lengthiness, and his arms flailed wildly in the air above him as he dramatically retold the story of the "Regulus Black Incident of 1975". He'd stopped listening when he'd discovered the 'Incident' had been that Reg had once, from his objective understanding, accidentally taken the seat next to Nathanial's then lust-interest in Arithmancy one time. The most surprising part of that story had been that Nate did Arithmancy. Mostly Josh was just confused at how exactly the Gryffindor boy had gotten into his room and Nate refused to answer the question.

They were now two weeks into the end of year holidays. Josh had opted to stay within the castle, his parents hadn't been the best before he was a wizard and he just felt as though he could do more, be more use here at school than back in Bournemouth. As soon as Nathanial had caught wind of Josh's decision to stay he had suddenly also become afflicted with family troubles and had no choice but to stay as well. This meant for his entire holidays he would have the unequivocal company of Nathanial Lupin. He'd never admit it aloud but Josh minded this less than he let on. Or at least he had, before Nate had spent the last two weeks, and the two before that after the meeting that Regulus had given them their first assignment, to complain about the younger Black brother. Josh wasn't one to complain, and mostly he tried to stay quiet, but today he just wanted Nate to stop talking. "Nathanial, I honestly cannot listen to one more story about your theory that Regulus murdered your third cousin twice removed because he once chose the apple you offered him instead of the orange which somehow proves his guilt. So, you're either going to have to stop talking or do something else with your mouth." He honestly hadn't meant for the words to come out as they had but as soon as he saw the wide smirk on the copper haired boys face he knew he had made a mistake. "Oh don't be so crude." Josh muttered as he threw the cushion he had been cradling in his arms at the offending boy who caught it with ease as he laughed. The tips of Josh's ear burned pink as Nate continued to laugh at his scandalised expression. It's not that Josh was a prude, well not exactly, it's just that Nathanial made him nervous. And not just in a sexual way, because the boy exuded sex like it was the carbon dioxide he exhaled, but in a way that Josh found himself wanting to be around him more and more. Sure, Nate talked a lot, like _a lot,_ but he also listened and if truth be told no one had ever really listened to him before. Not like Nate listened. Nate was interested in what he had to say, wanted to know his opinions, hung off of every syllable like it was his job and Josh had never felt more alive than he did when in his presence. It was more than half the reason he had agreed to join the Inglorious Bastards – as they had taken to calling themselves, IB for short within letters. He wasn't sure whether it was ironic or not anymore.

"Speaking of Regulus and being crude –"Josh ignored the groan that came from the bed. "Have you gotten any further on what he's asked? His last letter made it seem like we were running out of time." Nathanial sat up, a look passing over his face that Josh knew meant he was taking the question seriously. One of the only things Nate took seriously these days was the group. For some reason he had decided that this was a cause he cared about, and Josh liked the way Nate treated the things he cared about. Sometimes, or rather a lot of the time, Nate seemed to exhibit self-destructive behaviour - something Josh had been most adverse to and a large reason why he had avoided his advances for so long. Those behaviours had stopped, or at least gotten fewer and further between since their rag tag group of delinquents had begun. It was nice, he thought. Nate seemed to take a long time mulling over his question, more thought really than he reckoned the rather easy question deserved. "First of all, let's understand that I definitely didn't read that idiot's letter and second of all, no I am not any closer to discovering what makes the Dark Lord fucking immortal." Josh fought hard with his ever changing eyes to make sure they did not roll, Nate hated it.  
"We don't know if he's immortal."  
"Then why has tall, dark and fuckface have us chasing around a possible cause?"  
Josh sighed, they'd had this conversation more than once. "Because he overheard his parents taking about the Dark Lord having ways to overcome death."  
This made Nate throw his hands up in frustration, "Who died and made him King of England anyway? Why are we doing something that the _known pureblood fanatic_ has told us, with no evidence I might add, to do?"  
"Because it's all we've got to go on right now and things are getting worse. Besides you're conveniently ignoring the fact that Val corroborated his theory anyway. You really need to stop letting your hate for the guy blind you."  
"I don't hate him."  
"You don't like him."  
"Oh and you do? Like him, that is." Josh pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to warn off the headache he knew was coming. That was a loaded question and he knew it.  
"I respect him, Nate." Nate's lips pursed, a sign that he definitely didn't believe what he'd said but he hardly ever did when it came to Regulus. The man was unbelievably stubborn and even more jealous than he had a right to be. Josh stood from where he was seated at his desk and boldly moved to seat himself on the edge of the bed where Nathanial was lazed. "I _like_ you." And in a move he had never done before, he leaned over and planted a snog right on Nathanial Lupin's crazy distracting lips. Josh had never been so daring in his entire life. He rarely showed his feelings let alone made the first move, but this, well this felt right and he was tired of Nathanial being overbearingly possessive without at least some type of reason to be. "Now will you please, for the love of Merlin, stop talking about Regulus Black and help me sneak into the restricted section." Nate's face was one of utter shock as his eyes flickered from Josh's face, down to his lips, back up to his face. Josh liked this, making Nate speechless, it wasn't something that often happened. A smirk rearranged itself onto his lips, unfamiliar but right at the same time. Nate slowly but surely began to nod his head. "Is that a yes?"  
"Yes."  
"Good." Josh smiled triumphantly as he bent his head down to once again feel the softness of the young man's lips against his own. Later, he thought, the restricted section can wait til later.

Chapter 7

1978

Her 17th birthday had come and gone without celebration, except for the small cupcake that Val had managed to sneak her via owl. "No best friend of mine is coming of age without some type of present." The short note had said, signed simply VCM. Hogwarts was going to be quieter this year, Sirius, James, Remus, Peter and Lily had graduated. She'd been there for that, had encouraged Regulus to attend. He hadn't. Her holidays had been passing with barely any communication between her friends. The wizarding world had fallen into disorder and she had spent most of her time worrying every time her parents walked out of the door. Ted had come home for a week, his presence had helped, but he'd told her he'd fallen in love and then he was gone again. She'd always been close with her brother, the chance of two muggle born children inheriting magical powers was a million to one, and they'd shared everything since then. He hadn't been home a lot since he graduated two years ago, and she'd never tell him but it made her feel alone and she'd cried herself to sleep too many nights to count. Every morning she would wake up, have breakfast with her parents, and every day they would read the paper and comment on the tragic murders that were plaguing Great Britain. Every day she would hold her tongue, finish her breakfast and remove herself from the room before she broke down and told her parents to run, to hide.

Taylor knew the cause of the current epidemic and she knew exactly who were committing these atrocities. It made her mad. What use was no longer having the trace if she could not hunt down these so called Death Eaters and give them what they deserve? She wasn't doing enough, at any given moment she had to physically stop herself from packing up and heading off to fight. It was one of these moments, as she sat alone on the playground at the end of the street at night, that she found herself debating the escape she craved. It was here that he found her. She'd not had contact with any of her friends all holidays, it was too risky to send letters to her. They were too easily intercepted when sent to a muggle family. "You shouldn't be here." She spoke to shadows but she knew he was there. There must have been some type of flare for dramatic entrances in their family because he'd never appeared to her casually.  
"I shouldn't be a lot of things." Regulus Black was a man of few words and it had never frustrated her more. She wasn't surprised he was here, for some reason, it was like she'd been expecting him. Maybe it was just that she was always expecting him. "Are we going to do the vague answers thing because I'm just going to warn you I'm going to get _real_ sick of that _real_ quick." An amused grin appeared on his face, still half hidden in the darkness of the night, artfully avoiding being fully submerged in the light that the lone lamp cast over the park. "You're very no nonsense, Taylor Tonks."  
"Well, please excuse the fact that I was not brought up to use conversation like a weapon. Using innuendoes and faux-manners to create a dialogue of power." She huffed, " Speaking plainly never hurt anyone."  
His grin widened, "No, no, it's just – well I didn't expect such a no shenanigans attitude from the girl who has caused Lucius Malfoy's hair to turn bright red - and then flooded the bathroom he ran to in order to see what everyone was laughing at. Twice." Taylor raised her left shoulder in some sort of half-hearted shrug.  
"Fool me once shame on you and all that. He shouldn't be so predictable. And I don't have a no shenanigans attitude, I love shenanigans. Shenanigans are my favourite past time I just don't like…" Her sentence hung stale in the air as she tried to mentally grasp for the word she wanted to use.  
"Evil Shenanigans?" He provided for her. Clicking her fingers she made a small noise of triumph.  
"Yes, yes, evil shenanigans. They're the worst type of shenanigans to be had."  
"I think it'd be best if we discontinued the use of the word shenanigans."  
"I agree."  
The silence that enveloped them was almost suffocating as the pressing knowledge that he wasn't just here to critique her people skills weighed down on them. His eyes avoided hers as he moved silently across the park, wood chips crunching beneath the heel of his boot the only sound he made in his passing. The erratic flickering of the only light source in the park revealed snippets of dark circles underneath his eyes as he passed beneath it. He looked how she felt.  
"Something's happened." It wasn't a question, he wouldn't have taken the risk to show up here without provocation – no matter how much she wished this was just a casual visit because he just _wanted_ to see her. He nodded, slowly, heavily, as though the answer weighed more than she knew. "A couple of things, actually." Taylor's gaze flared with the annoyance she felt at being out of the loop all holidays. Sure, she knew that it was what had to happen. Muggle borns were being targeted and she was the only one not within the protective limits of Hogwarts. They couldn't risk letters being traced to or from her. She had to stay another face in the crowd. It didn't mean she had to like it. It wasn't until she heard the sound of the chain jingling that she realised he had situated himself onto the swing adjacent hers. Her hands clasped the metal of the chains tightly as she lazily used her legs to propel her backwards and forwards a half inch at a time.

"Josh and Nate found something. They think they know how You Know Who is keeping himself alive. They just need more time to research some other sources." The knot in her stomach loosened a little – good news that was good news. Regulus didn't look like he was delivering good news, he didn't look like a man that had ever heard good news in his life. He still wasn't looking at her. Her head rested against the chains that held up the swing, her eyes trained on the boy next to her as he looked down at his feet. In her short life, she'd seen guilt, she'd felt guilt. And there was no one in the world that looked guiltier than Regulus Black did sitting next to her right now. The silence stretched on – silence always seemed to be their default setting. Like both of them never seemed to know what was meant to be said at any given moment. Taylor liked the quiet, she didn't like silence.

"What did you do?" she spoke the words so quietly she was afraid they would be washed away by the breeze without ever having reached his ears. They weren't. And they did. His shoulders lowered but it wasn't a release of tension, he seemed defeated. His posture reflecting the turmoil of whatever was swirling around his mind. Taylor had never been scared of Regulus Black, despite that being the common consensus on how to react to the boy. She had never been scared of him but right now, in this moment, she was scared _by_ him. When he spoke to her she almost missed it, his entire body stayed still, his lips barely moved, and he still refused to look at her.

"Ted ran off with Andy, your family got on my family's radar in a big way. In a bad way, Taylor." He finally shifted his gaze to meet hers and she could honestly say she would have preferred he continued to stare at his feet. There was nothing in his eyes that told her she was going to like what she was about to hear – and she didn't know whether it was a trick of the light but she could have sworn she saw a glimpse of water pooling in the corners of his dark eyes. "I had to tell them, I had – I didn't have a choice you have to understand." His entire body was turned to her now as his voice took on a pleading quality. She thought that her mind would be racing with options, always her mind was racing and full of chaos but it was unusually still. She didn't know what he meant. Couldn't comprehend the meaning behind what he was saying – of what he wasn't saying. " _What did you do?_ " she repeated, her voice quiet yet demanding.  
"I told them about you. I had to tell them who you were, where you lived. They saw us at the ball together I couldn't just pretend to not know who you are, I'm so sorry, Taylor." Her lips stayed tight as she processed the information. "I came to warn you. I don't know when they'll come but they will. You need to-"

"I don't need to do anything. The only thing that needs to happen here is you leaving." She said it harsher than she meant it – or maybe she did mean it, she didn't really care about his feelings at the moment. Whatever he was about to say was cut off by the emergence of a swan made of blue light. A patronus. Val's patronus. "They've noticed your absence." Came the slightly distorted voice, like she was under water and in an echo chamber at the same time. "You need to get back. Now." And as suddenly as it had appeared the ethereal swan was gone. _Val knew_ , was the only thought that crossed her mind. Her best friend knew and the feeling of betrayal knew no bounds at that moment. Reg had not taken his eyes off of her, she could feel it like a hot poker on the side of her face as she watched the place where the swirling blue patronus had been. He hadn't made a move to leave, his body still sat turned in her direction. He wasn't going to leave – all she wanted was for him to leave. Before she could turn her anxiety and shock into the only emotion she truly knew how to express and blew up at the boy the sound of screams and the crack of thunder happened within quick succession.

Taylor was up and running, she was sure, before her brain had even told her muscles to move. Driven by pure terror she propelled herself through the park and into her street. She didn't have to go very far, she didn't even have to run the six houses to her own to know. To know the very thing she had been so scared of happening had happened. Her knees gave out on her. She thought that was only a thing that happened in movies, after all her knees had never failed her before but at the moment she couldn't stand. She couldn't do anything – Merlin, she wasn't even crying. She knew he was there, staring in horror at the same thing she was. She didn't want him there, didn't want him anywhere near her. He had done this. This was _his_ fault.

" _Leave._ " Her voice was filled with as much venom and malice as she could conjure, which at this particular moment was a lot. Her voice shook with the grief, with the anger, that she felt. There was a hesitation in the boy behind her, she knew, she could feel it ripple in the air between them. In the end he made the right choice. The snap that echoed in the night air signaled his departure and he was gone. And she was alone. Alone to look at the mark that meant death made from black clouds floating menacingly above her home.

Chapter 8

Dominic's POV

"She won't talk to us. It's been six months. She's never been this mad at me."  
Dom sighed, he had heard nothing but this for the last six months. His friends had been pulled apart by a single tragedy and he had never felt more hopeless than he did now. Unable to comfort his girlfriend – he wasn't one for hollow support and empty promises that everything will be alright. He didn't see a way this would ever be alright again.  
"You knew her family was being targeted, Vally." He didn't mean to sound accusatory but the blonde stopped her pacing along the benches of the quidditch pitch and turned to face him with a look of pure hurt on her face. He ignored the twisting in his gut at that face and continued, "Her parents are _dead_ , Vaps." The old nickname came so easily to his lips. "Her brother has gone into hiding. She has no one. And the people she _thought_ she had?" His eyes refused to flinch from the intense green of hers, every bit the slytherin princess she had been crowned, he thought. "We lied to her. We _all_ lied to her." Because they had. They couldn't communicate with her, although that point was moot now. The rest of them sent letters. Their correspondence had consisted of Josh and Nate's findings and the pressure being placed on the purebloods of the group to give up their friend's whereabouts. They'd cut Taylor out of the loop. At first for her own good but after a while, it just became convenient. It was easier to hide behind the excuse of no contact when you were discussing how to avoid the murder of your best friend and her family. They'd had to make a choice, and they'd chosen when they knew Taylor wouldn't be at home. They'd toyed with her life and now she wasn't speaking with them. It was fair - It was less than they deserved. He could see Val's instinct to fight back die, like a flame being extinguished, in her eyes. Her shoulders slumped, the usually perfect posture of the girl broken. "I miss her so much." Dom placed his arms around his girlfriend, she slumped into his arms immediately. Leaning on him fully, as she always had. As they always had for each other. "I know." He murmured into her hairline, his lips pressing soft comforting kisses where he lingered.  
"Nothing I ever do is going to make this better, is it?"  
"Maybe it isn't your job to make it better, Vappers. Maybe you're just supposed to make it right." Her deep sigh conceded her agreement with his statement. There hadn't been a single day, a single second, in the last six months that Val hadn't burned with guilt and shame for her actions. She'd cut herself off from the rest of them for the first two. Her shiny blonde hair had become messy and dull, her flawless skin had sported dark circles and tear tracked cheeks at any given moment. Valentine Malfoy had become a stranger to herself, a shadow, and it had taken all of them to even get her out of bed in the morning. For a long time they would just sit together, she would cry and he would be there. His own heart breaking in the process as he watched the love of his life fall apart. They'd done what they had done in absence of another choice. But they'd still done it.

It was another two weeks before they were given the chance to approach Taylor. She'd not been to school, she'd avoided all forms of contact. In the time she had been gone Josh and Nate had discovered the existence of horcruxes. Had determined that it was the option with the highest possibility of being the spell they were looking for. Nicholas Flamel was, after all, still in possession of the Philosopher's Stone. He was the first to see her, or well, maybe he was just the first to talk to her. Maybe he was the first she allowed to talk to her. They'd never been best friends, had hardly been friends. They wouldn't have known each other had he not started dating Val but he respected Taylor Tonks and he liked to think she respected him too. The hesitation he felt before starting the conversation with her was not unfamiliar, he'd always had trouble being the first to speak. This hesitation felt different though, like maybe he was intruding where he shouldn't be. Dom was sick of feeling like he was intruding on people's lives just by existing, by wanting to help. Maybe it was his desire to help, maybe it was his desire to prove he was worth something – anything – but ultimately it was his desire to know that the girl that had always been the little bit of light for everyone around her, wasn't completely consumed by her darkness. His chance came by exactly that – chance.

He was headed to the pitch to practice, as always, and she was sitting below the bleachers. Maybe she'd been doing that for a while, he hadn't noticed. As soon as he changed his course to her direction he could see the tension enter her body, even from where he was. She didn't say anything when he finally reached her, she didn't even acknowledge his presence. Dom would have thought she truly hadn't seen him if it weren't for the way her hands ripped blades of grass from the Earth with aggression they didn't deserve. Silently he situated himself in front of her, bending slightly so his tall frame could fit in the small space she fit so well in. His heart beat faster, Dominic Krum was not good at confrontations and his words weren't eloquent at the best of times. A deep sighed filled the space and it took him a few moments to realise it wasn't his own. Taylor sat still, her hands taking a break from wreaking havoc on the poor weeds at her feet, an acknowledgment of his presence. "I'm not going to say sorry, even though we are, so much, because that will only be an insult." There was a derisive snort from the red head in front of him but he continued anyway. "I don't know what you're going through, I've never really even liked my parents. But I know you don't have to go through it alone."  
That was the wrong thing to say. Immediately he could see her eyes, as red as her hair, flaming with the fury and indignation she felt. "Go through it alone? Go through it alone? And who would you propose I go through it _with_? The people who did this?"  
Dom chewed on his lip - confrontation bad, confrontation bad. Pushing down his instincts to turn and forget this conversation happened he channeled his inner Gryffindor, his inner Taylor, and he faced her glare with his own.  
"We have no right to tell you how to feel, I know that. We have no right to anything from you right now. But we had no choice, and you know that. You want someone to blame? Blame the people that did this. They would have found you sooner or later, Taylor." He could see she wanted to fight back, could see the way she held herself like she wanted to pounce on him and hit him until he would stop making sense. "There's a time to grieve, Tonks. And I wish that could be now but it has been six months and the world is only getting worse. The world is not going to stop because of your tragedy and we don't have the luxury right now. We've found information, useful information. We need you, Taylor." He thought that maybe he was being too dismissive of the fact that her parents had _just died_. But there were casualties in war, and they had never signed up to be soldiers but here they were. The Order was off fighting on the front lines and the least they could do was find these weaknesses. Every little thing helped. Sometimes kids didn't get to be kids, and this was one of those times. He watched her process everything he had said. Watched her hands clench and unclench as she sorted through what she felt and what she knew. He didn't know how much time passed – it could have been seconds or minutes. Finally, her hands stretched out in a gesture that could have meant to placate him or herself. Her jaw twitched as if she wanted to take back whatever she was about to say already but one deep breath later he had his answer.  
"What's a horcrux?"  
And that was it. That was her surrender. He smiled despite himself, she was a lot like Vally in her own way. They'd feel what they needed to feel, sometimes melodramatically, but when they were needed, when it was time to come back, they did what needed to be done. "I don't quite understand them myself, you'd be better off asking Josh…or even Nate actually he has become incredibly studious lately." They both made identical actions, a suggestive eyebrow raise that showcased that they both knew exactly why Nate had become studious of late. "From what I understand, it's an object. An object of importance that you can shelter a piece of your soul inside. Your body can die a million different ways but if your soul is safe than you never really _die._ " He rubbed at his forehead, horcruxes were confusing. "We just haven't figured out what the object or objects is yet, or where." Taylor's lips twitched in a multitude of ways as she tried to wrap her head around the explanation she had been provided. Dom could see her physically digesting the information – the crease of her eyebrows, the scrunch of her nose, and the slight tilt of her head. He didn't know what was happening in her head but when it was done she shot to her feet, eyes wide.

"Slytherin"

Chapter 9

She'd buried it. Buried her grief and her anger because Dom was right, was always right. They didn't have the luxury for this right now, and she'd already had six months. For the last year she had done nothing but want to fight against the evil that plagued this world. Had thought that meant raising fists and raising wands but maybe she was wrong. Maybe what this war needed was rebellion in a different form, in a way that was more subtle. They would find this horcrux, whatever or wherever it may be and they would take away the shield that You Know Who held. Taking down the defenses for the Order to hit him at the right time. It was a goal they hadn't known they'd been working towards when starting their rag tag group. Just friends with a dream to do something bigger, with the chance to do something bigger. As she strode down the halls of Hogwarts, she knew that one day she would owe her friends an apology, and that they would owe her one too but for today it was time to get shit done. _Getting shit done horribly but at least it's getting done_ , Nate's voice echoed in her mind from all those months ago and for the first time in a long time she smiled.

Taylor stopped suddenly as she realised she didn't actually know where she was headed. Her hesitation allowed Dom to catch up to her, his laugh reaching her before he did. "They're all scattered at the moment." His ability to know what she was thinking, what everyone was thinking, was uncanny. Something that only came from years of sitting quietly in the shadow.  
"So what do we do? Call a…meeting?"  
Dom shrugged, "I've heard worse ideas."

And that's how, twenty minutes later, she found herself sitting across from Nate, Josh, Dom and Vally in a field on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Regulus's attendance still pending. The atmosphere was awkward and when she first saw Val enter the room she couldn't look her in the eye. The hurt she saw from her peripheral vision almost made her crumble but Taylor couldn't quite forgive her fully just yet. "Soooo…" Nate started off, of course he was the first one to speak. His arm slung lazily over Josh and she noticed the drummer boy was actually _leaning in to_ his touch. Huh, half a year of research together really does bring people closer. It was, of course, inevitable. Clearing her throat slightly she looked at each of them, even Vally – or well she tried. "I think the object we're looking for has something to do with Slytherin." They all snapped to attention at that. They didn't even look put out that she hadn't called this meeting to apologise or at least address the _issue_. The elephant in the room could stay there for a little longer. "Why do you think that? There's no proof." This came from Josh, his body leaned forward slightly, he was interested. He was listening.  
"You Know Who is a man, men are predictable. Their entire movement is backed by Slytherin's, he himself was a Slytherin. These objects have to hold value for him right? The first place I'd look is Slytherin house." Taylor waited as they all digested the information. It had been a natural jump in her mind. There was one common denominator here: Slytherin House. Maybe, if that's where they started, that's where they could finish.

Val slowly nodded her head, "It's a logical conclusion. Everyone knows each founder had a sacred object. Salazar's was, uh, a locket. I think. We could start there, it can't hurt."  
"This might." Taylor didn't even have time to whip her head around at the intruder before the green light that struck her best friend in the chest lit up the clearing. Dom's shrieks were all she could hear as his girlfriend, her best friend, collapsed into his arms. Lifeless. Chaos exploded in the clearing as Nate immediately pushed Josh behind him, his wand out faster than she'd ever seen him move in his life. "You piece of shit." The scathing remark came from Josh, which was surprising. She'd never heard the boy swear in her life. Everything was moving too fast but when her eyes locked on the target Josh had in his sights her heart stopped. Regulus Black stood before them, flanked by Death Eaters on either side, Rodulphus LeStrange wand extended. He'd sold them out.

Chapter 10

"She was one of your own!" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, she hadn't even reached for her wand yet. "She was your family and you killed her!" She was speaking directly to Reg and he knew it. She ignored the grief and pleading in his eyes, she didn't want that. She didn't want to think about how he felt right now. He'd killed her parents and he'd just killed Val. "She was a blood traitor." Spit Bellatrix Black, her face too pretty for the darkness that bloomed inside her. Dom's sobs could be heard behind them, Josh's quiet words of rationality telling them they needed to be calm, Nate's knuckles cracking as he clenched his wand harder. The two groups stood across from each other. A secret meeting in the middle of nowhere, a silent murder, a death that meant nothing to anyone but them and no one would ever know. They'd cover this up, they always did. Reg's eyes broke away from the body of his cousin cradled in Dom's arms, his gaze turning to LeStrange on his left. "No one was supposed to get hurt." His voice was strained, she knew he was trying to stop himself from raising his voice. Still playing the part despite the circumstances. Or maybe the part he was playing was of the good guy. Maybe they were the ones who got played.

"Your little secret club is pathetic." Rodolphus replied instead, ignoring Reg and addressing the group directly. "Admittedly, you've done well. Finding out information from the blood traitor." His eyes moved to Vally. Taylor and Nate shifted their bodies at the same time and moved to hide the girl from his eyes. Rage fired deep within her gut. How dare he? How dare he look at her? Taylor was going to kill him. She knew it. "But it's over now." LeStrange continued like no one had moved, like the whole world should stop while he spoke. "We know what you're trying to do and we won't let it happen." His eyes shifted to Taylor's, an amused spark in his pupil-less depths. "Shame you weren't in that house with your parents. Would have been easier, no?"

A rage filled yell filled the air and it was with an effort that she realised it wasn't her making the noise. The comment had blind-sided her, rage had blinded her and Dom had taken the opportunity to rush through the barricade that Taylor and Nate had built with their bodies. Wand drawn, Dom's ear splitting shriek filled the area as he fired curse upon curse at the opposing party. She didn't even see the counter-curse that did it. It happened too fast and there was too much light to pay attention to but in a moment Dom was laying on the ground in front of them, as still as his girlfriend.

Once again the clearing was quiet. Rodulphus spoke, merlin she wished he knew when to shut up. "Now, I don't think anyone else needs to die today. Do you?"  
"Then stop killing them." Josh's voice was filled with malice as he stepped out from behind Nate – to Nate's absolute horror. "Stop." His voice rang clear and unaffected across the gap between them. Ah, so he speaks. Reg stood there, his arms outspread in a placating gesture, half meant to stop them and half meant to stop his people. The hatred she felt for him then, it was near impossible to describe. She knew he knew. He looked right at her. He saw it, blazing beneath the surface. It wasn't a fire, no, it was more like an acid. Slowly melting away everything she ever was or ever would be until she was completely consumed by nothing but the desire for him to die. And he knew it. Taylor refused to look at the bodies on the ground. She couldn't. She couldn't because if she did then she wouldn't be able to be strong and she wouldn't be able to protect the friends she still had left.

"What do you want?" Josh was being unbelievably reckless – you couldn't have paid her to bet that he would be the one mouthing off whilst Nate tried to get him to back down but here we are. Bellatrix pretended to think, her hand coming to rest on her chin.  
"We want what we've always wanted. To be respected and feared as we are due. You are hindering that goal, slightly, but it is hindering none the less. We want you dead." Reg stepped in front of Bellatrix then, his body swinging into the line of her wand. It didn't make her hate him any less but maybe he wasn't the piece of shit she thought he was. She'd think more on that later. "We aren't here to kill anyon-"his eyes couldn't help but stray, "Any _more_ people. We find out what they know, we take them in. That's it." The pensive look that came over Bellatrix's face this time was more real, yet somehow she managed to keep that annoying arrogant air. "That seems less fun." He almost stopped her, she could see it. The words on his lips, the raise of his hand in defence. He almost stopped her, but then again almost was never good enough.

The cruciatus curse never hit its mark. It never hit the small brunette boy that had grown courage ten times the size of hers in a fraction of the time it took to earn a spine like that. Instead the curse found itself embedded in the body of Nathanial Lupin. His form dropping to the ground in screams of pure agony as he convulsed. She didn't know how it felt to be under the cruciatus curse, one look at Nate and she knew she didn't want to be. She was yelling _stop_ , she knew she was. Her lungs hurt and her throat was raw with the word. But barely, barely could she be heard over the screams of the copper haired boy on the ground. Josh was on his knees, afraid to touch the boy but screaming just as loud as she was. When finally it was over, Nate's groans filled the air as he tried to remember what it was to feel whole. Tears flowed freely from Josh's eyes but still, she stood dry eyed glaring at the people in front of her. "Please, just stop." Her voice didn't sound brave or strong or any of the things she was meant to be. "We'll do whatever you want just please stop hurting him. Stop hurting my friends." Sadism never looked as natural as when it was etched upon the face of Bellatrix Black, wand raised from freshly torturing someone.

"I'll take her." His voice was like its own type of cruciatus curse digging into the deepest parts of her, parts that used to think it was the most beautiful sound in the world. Bellatrix already looked bored of the conversation she was about to have with him. "I know you're all very _by the book_ cousin, but is it really necessary we bother them with this? We found them on our own and the Dark Lord doesn't even need to be bothered with these…people." She spat the last word like she barely thought them worthy of the title. Reg never took his eyes off of her as he responded. "You take the other two as collateral, I'll take her to the Dark Lord. Everything works out fine. Go." The sigh came from Rodulphus as he pulled his betrothed's wand down. "Black's right." Being his only thoughts on the matter.

She fought. She tried. Regulus held her in place as the rest of black clad gang took away her friends. Screaming had never been her thing but Merlin, did she scream. Nate whimpered as they moved him, touched him too early after having his bones set on fire and broken and then nailed back together. Josh's yells, full of expletives and words she was sure he had never said in his life. And all the while she screamed. And all the while he held her, restrained her. As her best friend lay dead, and the only person that had ever seen through her followed suit, she screamed. As she remembered her parents and the dark mark, she screamed. Josh and Nate disappeared, leaving her the only sound echoing around the clearing and still she screamed. The weightless feeling of disapparation, being pulled in 100 different directions, her screams lost to 100 different locations before they settled in one. Waves crashing against the cave they were in and still, she screamed.

Chapter 11

Third Person POV

Do you remember the first time you ever felt happy? Like real, fulfilling, true happiness that made the whole world brighter, the future clearer, like nothing in the world could be bad because in that moment you were so whole. Maybe you do, maybe you don't. Maybe it was the first time you ever tasted chocolate as a child, or the first time your father ever picked you up and put you on his shoulders so you could see fireworks. You were young though, and you can't remember that. So maybe it was your 16th birthday when your mother handed you the keys to your own car, or the first time you said you loved someone – and meant it. At least you thought you did. Now I want you to imagine an all-encompassing pain. The sort of pain that makes all of those moments irrelevant. Pain that burns and freezes at the same time because there was so much fear and god, so much hurt that you didn't even _know_ what exactly it was that was so excruciating. Maybe you shouldn't even call this pain. Pain implies that, at some point, you will get used to it. There was no getting used to this. There was no point in forever that would have you impartial to this sort of agonizing existence. And that's what it was. An existence. At no point, between your bones shredding and your blood boiling, was there room for anything other than screaming. That's the kind of pain he endured, upon reflection, when he was allowed to once again remember an existence outside his bars of agony.

Nathanial Lupin has never been a particularly brave person. Confident and arrogant, borderline egotistical, yes, but not necessarily brave. Although, in his defence, I suppose there was never a moment in which he had a chance to prove how brave he was. At least, not until the day _they_ turned to a short brunette boy and he saw within their eyes the promise of pain – and worse. There was something endearing about the quiet of Josh Devine that attracted the noise of his personality. Something about the calm to his storm, the rest to his endless awake. There was never an in-between for Nate – he lived upon a perpetual see-saw of existence that never quite settled evenly, never quite settled at all. Josh was his in-between. From the moment the younger boy had allowed him to whisper prayers of worship upon his lips with his own – Nate had never known more peace than the piece he found within the arms of Josh Devine. Love had never been a word he was readily available to define but if you asked him now he thinks he might define it as the soft curve of a jaw, eyes that changed colour more often than he changed moods, biceps that never looked better than when they were wrapped around him and soft brown waves of hair that always parted for the ships his fingers made. Exploring, diving - drowning. The months he spent researching – both books and Josh's body – had been the happiest of his life. Which, in retrospect, would not have been a very difficult accomplishment. When researching turned to discovery, letters of idle thoughts became letters of dim certainty, his feelings (so much more readily available now than they had ever been) turned to the missing girl who was consistently excluded from the mailing list. He knew it was for good reason but when thoughts turned to actions, and actions turned to explicit control over another person's life it took more than just Josh to calm him down. Nate may have not been entirely brave, but loyalty? His flesh was made of the stuff. More times than he could count had he written a letter to Taylor, revealing all and hiding nothing. More times that he could count the letters found their home in the fireplace because it wasn't his place – it had been put to a vote after all and he was pulling up the rear on that one. He thinks, that maybe his friends were driven by logic. He knows this because he is completely incapable of thinking logically and that's probably why he didn't understand the decision. Sacrifice the one for the sake of the many, or whatever. They all had their parts to play. Valentine and Black provided theories and information from the inside. Him and Josh would follow up on the tips. Taylor would, unknowingly, sacrifice her family. A really even work load, don't you think?

Looking back on it, he didn't know whether they were being played the entire time. If Black had already signed off on their deaths the day he sat himself down at that table in that pub. It didn't matter now anyway. Because they were all here, in the places they were, and they had failed. And they had been betrayed. And if there was one thing that could make him wish for the pain that the cruciatus bore him it was the thought that he would have to see Joshua Devine die. Nothing of particular importance happened upon their transportation to the back rooms of the LeStrange Mansion. The interrogation, or the taunting maybe would be a better word, wouldn't last. The people around him were high strung, itching to take out their sadistic tendencies upon the two boys. If he could catch his breath, if he could remember what was happening, maybe he could have stopped it. Because their wands were pointed at Josh and he was doing an excellent imitation of the state Nate had previously been in. Maybe, if his vocal chords had energy for anything other than the screaming they had endured he would have been able to steal back his sounds. Because they were _his_ sounds and they sounded so awful coming from the lips he had only ever seen elicit whispered devotions of his name. If his limbs worked, if his hands could do anything but shake, he would have begged them to stop – fought them. Never had Nathanial Lupin been brave, but he'd been scared, he was scared, and fear was never a better asset than when someone you loved was lying drenched in pain on the floor. It was a game, his eyes –which worked – could see that plain as day. Could see the grins of giddiness, the smirks of resigned entertainment, this was a game. They were a game. And there was nothing he could do to stop it. Regrets were never so horrible than when you still had time to correct them but couldn't. When his eyes registered the bored looks he received – if he wasn't screaming he wasn't playing the game – he knew that it was in this moment his regrets would be sealed. At least he didn't feel it. At least he didn't see it. When the green light touched his chest maybe his last thought was the bittersweet admission of the word he was never able to say - for the boy he was never able to save. Or maybe, selfishly, it was that he didn't have to hear Josh Devine's screams anymore.

Chapter 12

Maybe she stopped screaming on her own, maybe it was rough calluses of a hand tugging at her hand, at her heart, that finally sandpapered her vocal chords down to silence. The process of entering the cave that held Salazar Slytherin's Locket was all but unrecallable for her. The truth is, she couldn't remember if she tried. There was movement, and there was a boat, and breathing. Breathing that sounded like a thousand beating drums against the death riddled silence that encompassed them. It took her longer than it should have for her to notice that they weren't in front of a jury of death eaters, and Regulus Black wasn't killing her. To be fair, she had just watched her bestfriend and a boy she respected murdered and the boy she'd known since she was six tortured. If there was a time Taylor Tonks deserved to be rattled it was now. Slowly, painfully slow, her surroundings came into focus.

She was sitting on a rock, okay that was a start. Murky water was reflecting her image back at her, a rock surrounded by water, okay getting there. Turning her head, after discovering she had been rocking herself back and forth emitting pathetic noises that paled in comparison to the screams of Nathanial Lupin that echoed around her head, she watched as the boy that had caused them so much pain silently stared into a white bowl. "Why?" There was no need to try and make herself heard, the whisper she was able to produce echoed around the cave enough for the sound to reach his ears just fine. Just like the sigh he released reached her just fine, too, and the murmured sound of "Gemino". Taylor watched the replicated necklace form in his hand – huh, so they were right after all. It was the locket. And they'd given him that information so freely. Almost as freely as he had killed them. Shakily she stood, "Fuck you." Limbs were unstable and fists felt like feet, feet like fists, and she couldn't tell you which hit him first but the impact felt like a small amount of justice, so she kept doing it. And he let her. His only act of defense was to raise his hands to cover his head but in all else he let her attack him. And attack him she did, because she did not stop until he was on the ground and she was breathless and crimson dripped lazily from both of them. Taylor stood above him, knuckles bruised and split, tear tracks chiselled into the plains of her face.

"We were your friends. _She was your family_." He lifted himself from the ground – barely. Lip split and eye already beginning to bruise, preferential treatment of his left arm.  
"You think I don't know that?" His voice held more intensity then he deserved to have, more anguish than she wanted to hear.  
"You think that you _do_?" Her voice matched his in pitch, and in pain, and she tried to ignore the way his eyes burned with guilt.  
"I didn't want this. I didn't want anyone to get hurt." He almost seemed placating, like maybe he could stop the inevitable. But he couldn't. Because she was Taylor, and he was Regulus. And a mountain could no more stop a storm than he could stop her.  
"Apparently you've just learned the hard way that we don't always get what we want. In this case, the hard way is lying dead in a field in Hogsmeade and it was you who did that."  
"I didn't kill Valentine."  
"You might as well have." She thinks, for a second, she may have crossed a line. Except he doesn't deny it. Doesn't try to defend himself. "You want me to understand what you've done? Then tell me Regulus because I am _dying_ to know what possible reason you have that is a good enough reason for our friends to have died."  
"I don't." He answers almost immediately. Talking over her, offended she would even suggest that any reason would be good enough. He didn't want her forgiveness, upon reflection years later, she might realise that he didn't think he deserved it anyway. "I don't because there isn't. You want to blame someone? You blame me because it is my fault, I'm the piece of shit you all thought I was. I'm the one that got your parents killed. I'm the one that got Valentine and Dominic killed. It was me." His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, stepping forward as though he was going to advance but always stepping back the next moment. He wasn't going to hurt her, she knew that's not what he wanted. He was angry at himself. "When Andy ran off they asked me about you, about your family. And I told them I didn't know you, I swear I told them, but they didn't believe me. They asked me to choose between you and your family and I'm sorry, Taylor, god I'm so sorry but I chose you. I couldn't- I didn't want…" His sentence trailed off and the words 'to lose you' ran around her head unsolicited and un-evidenced but there they danced just the same. So close yet so far. But he didn't stop. She'd never heard him talk so much in his life. But right now he was a man in confession and she was as close to a church as he'd ever been. "I thought that was it. I thought they'd leave me alone but they knew. Bella knew. She confronted me, told me I had a weakness and if I didn't stop talking she would break each and every one of us-"  
"She broke us anyway." Her cutting words interrupted him.  
"I never said she wasn't a liar." They stared at each other, tension bubbling thick around them. Their location lost on them. They were lost to themselves. "So I stopped, I convinced her that I was going straight again. I thought I did. But then you sent that summons out. Told us to meet you in the field and they were there."  
"You're blaming this on me?"  
"NO! I'm trying to explain to you. I don't want to- I don't want to die with you hating me." He dejectedly held up the replica necklace he had kept in his hand, the struggle made harder by the damage she had inflicted on his arm. "I need to put this," He pointed towards the bowl. Salazar Slytherin's locket sat encased in clear water. "In there."  
"Then do it."  
He eyed her like she was stupid. That was new. "You think it's going to be that easy?"  
"Why the hell would it not be? Why can't something, just for once, be easy?" Taylor marched over to the bowl, using the shell that was placed next to the bowl to scoop the water out. No matter how much she scooped the water level never vanished. No matter how deep she reached her fingertips never touched the necklace. A reverberating growl of 'fuck' bounced off the walls of the cave and she would have said even disturbed the water, but nothing disturbed the water. It was eerily still. Her eyes met his, he looked sad, like he knew this was going to happen.  
"You knew this wasn't water?"  
Reg shook his head. "I just knew it wouldn't be easy."  
"What do we do?" He shrugged halfheartedly, making his way towards the bowl until he too was peering at the contents.  
"I found a diary. That's how I knew about this cave. I didn't know it'd be here, it was a guess but… You Know Who once came here with two boys, beat them. Made them hurt. I think he wants to make us hurt too." Her eyes bored into him as he spoke. Unflinching, even when he lifted his from the bowl to hers. "I think I have to drink it." She almost spoke her protest but he had already grabbed the shell and scooped a mouthful of whatever the hell that liquid was into his mouth. I guess that was the end of their chat. It wasn't quite finished and she didn't quite forgive him but that was all she was getting.

It hurt. She knew it hurt, the grimace on his face evidence of the fact. And with every mouthful she could see it hurt more. Scoop after scoop until he couldn't do it himself. He didn't make a noise the entire time. When she refused to make him drink another drop, his eyes shot open. His limbs moved heavy with the pain that coursed through his veins but he took her hand. For a moment, he just held it, like maybe he just wanted to touch her but after a moment he pushed the necklace- and a note- into her hand. "Please." Was all he said, but she knew what he meant. He needed her to help him. He needed to do this. He needed this to work because otherwise it was all for nothing. Everything he had done, everything he had done to them, would mean nothing if he didn't do this. So she helped him. Four more shells of the liquid and he took them, and he was in pain. But when she could finally reach the necklace she did. She pulled it out like it was on fire, placed the note in the fake and placed it back into the bowl before it filled back up with the liquid. They had it.

Her whole body turned in Reg's direction as she heard him groan. Rushing to his side she held the necklace up so he could see. "We got it, look. We can destroy it we just have to get up, and we have to leave." His eyes fixed on something in the distance.  
"You need to leave." Another groan as he got to his feet. She didn't know how. He looked like a man suffering, physically and mentally, but still he stood. Taylor saw it now, what he saw. The ripple in the water. The protruding bodies of the enchanted demons that laid silent beneath its surface until this moment. Why wasn't anything easy? The two of them drew their wands, firing curses left and right as the water-logged dead climbed up the rock to end them. End them when they were so close to the finish. Curses sailed through the air but no matter how hard they pushed it was never enough to fully give themselves a path to the boat. What happened next happened in parts. Three distinct parts.

Part one. They realised at the same time that they weren't both getting out of here. The reanimated bodies of the dead wanted them dead. Or at the very least wanted someone or something dead and they would not stop until they got it.

Part two. His hand was on her bicep, pushing, pulling and tugging. Making her move whilst they both continued to throw curses that felt like nothing more than blowing wind on their enemies. Taylor knew what he was doing. Between the boat and the path he was creating, it was clear what he meant to do. She made it damn clear she opposed. Suddenly, they were fighting each other, and fighting the dead.  
"Don't do this." She yelled over the noise that the fight created, multiplied tenfold by the cacoon of echoes the cave created. He didn't reply. Simply looked at her, pain filled gaze meeting pain filled gaze. In that moment, she didn't know if she hated him. Didn't know if she quite forgave him. She didn't know anything other than the fact that she didn't want him to do this. That she wouldn't let him do this.

"You were my favourite almost."

Part three. No sooner had the words left his mouth than Taylor felt her feet leave the ground at the same moment she felt the spell hit her shoulder. Felt her back hit the wood of a boat. Saw the flash of another spell and then all she saw was black. Son of a bitch. He'd stupefied her.

Chapter 13

2047

Almost. The word still haunted her after all these years. Laying in her bed - as she had every day for longer than she cared to count - that was the word she remembered.  
They almost thought they were clever.  
She almost lived.  
He almost kept his rage in check.  
He almost said it.  
He almost heard it.  
He almost loved her.  
She almost forgave him.  
They were almost heroes.

Some of them went to their graves hating. Most of them went to their graves betrayed. Not one single moment of their ends were happy. And, she thought, they were too young to appreciate the moments that came before. Too young, that was the operative word in that sentence. They were all too young. She wasn't strong enough to keep the necklace – wasn't strong enough to destroy it. She'd given it to Kreacher the day she got back. He'd spat in her general direction but when he heard it was a last gift from his master he all but stole it from her. Josh was delivered to St Mungos at 7am the next morning and she'd sat beside his bed while he stared blankly ahead at the ceiling. Taylor held his hand, told him she loved him – told him she would never let anyone hurt him again. She'd sworn up and down that hospital hall that he'd squeezed her hand. The last reaction she'd ever elicit – imagined or not. Her youth had been stolen that day. Never again was she happy. Smiled, yes, even laughed, but happiness? Her small window of experience with happiness started with a small platinum blonde girl with pigtails and ended with that girl, now absent pigtails, face down in the grass – unmoving.

Almost. The last word she ever spoke as she looked through her bedroom window and saw the sunlight transform into familiar black locks. She was either hallucinating, or she was dying, and neither option seemed to bother her much. Her hand stretched out to greet the man made of sunlight, the man she had finally forgiven. It was like falling asleep. Like she had to look away for a moment, shield her eyes from the brilliance of his light. And as the darkness took her, it never consumed her, because he was there. And he'd never leave her. Not ever again.

Epilogue

There was nothing in the world more annoying, more frustrating than being the son of Harry Potter. Albus knew that better than anyone. He'd played up, done the wildchild thing in his youth. He was older, somewhat wiser, not much but it counted. He'd come to realise when he was young that there was a certain way children of heroes were allowed to behave. And Albus had done everything he could to not comply with that behaviour. However, he didn't snub his duties anymore like he might have in his youth, and besides, this one he didn't exactly hate. The old woman his father made him visit because he needed to help out? Check on her and the man that never stopped staring? Make sure they weren't dead? He didn't know. Old people died all the time. And the man, Josh he recalled, well he was basically three-fourths there already. The lady was nice enough, he didn't completely hate her company and she didn't seem to mind his. She'd invite him in, make some kind of remark about his father forcing him to check up on her, and then they would drink tea and talk. They did this maybe every 4 months or so. Albus liked Taylor Tonks. When you spoke to her it was like, if you closed your eyes, speaking to a twenty year old. A twenty year old that had maybe seen too much but it didn't bother him if he didn't think too hard on it. She was funny, and sometimes when he made her smile she didn't seem quite so sad.

That's why, as he raised his fist to knock on the door, he didn't quite dread it being opened. It never occurred to him to dread it _not_ opening. After 10 minutes of knocking he decided that, maybe, the old girl had finally lost her hearing. So he found the spare key, predictably kept hidden away under the welcome mat, and let himself in. The room where the old man used to stay had been vacant for over a decade. Taylor had told him that he'd passed gently and in his sleep but would speak no more of it so he never pushed her. The thought haunted him as he passed the room that she'd never changed, what if? He didn't let himself finish that thought. Well, at least, until he entered the room. "Ms. Tonks?" his voice sounded as nervous as he felt. He knew, merlin somehow he knew, exactly what he'd find when he turned that corner into her room. The old woman lay on her side, staring out the window unblinkingly. He didn't have to touch her skin to know the truth but he did anyway. He started at the contact, it wasn't like the movies, and she wasn't hard and cold. In fact, she was still warm, and her hands felt like any other time he'd taken them and placed a polite farewell kiss onto them. Not long, then. She must have only just gone. Maybe if he'd gotten here sooner. He could have helped her, at least made her more comfortable. Albus' eyes filled with tears he wouldn't shed, he hadn't cried since he was 10, as he looked down at the old lady who he was too late to help.

Almost.


End file.
